To Care For A Cat
by Afuu
Summary: With Harry Potter missing, Severus Snape finds himself taking care of a small, injured, and abused cat. Its origins are unknown as he finds himself becoming fond of the poor creature. He does his best to nurse it back to health, but the poor thing seems to get in just as much trouble as a certain missing student of his. Summer after 5th year. Dursley Abuse/Scenes of Violence.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** To Care For A Cat

 **Author:** Afuunana

 **Pairing:** None.

 **Warnings:** Scenes of violence and descriptive graphic details. Child abuse.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter. All credit of characters and magic belong to J.K. Rowling.

This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic in well over 10 years. I hope you enjoy!

 **Chapter 1**

This summer had been hard. Not only was he grieving Sirius' recent death, something he fully took the blame for, but ever since Dumbledore had sent a letter to the Dursley's informing them of his godfather's death, they'd been incredibly smug and constantly reminded him of the fact. They also no longer took the Order's orders to treating him well seriously. Now only four weeks into summer holidays, he had lost a significant amount of weight and had been moved back into the cupboard under the stairs accompanied by his trunk. Hegwig had been left with Ron to take care of for the summer.

The cupboard, which he had fit into decently well when he was 11, was no longer so accommodating to his mid-teen size. Though he was still significantly smaller than his like-aged classmates, his legs and arms had to be held close to his body to fit into the cramped space. He now found himself curled into a ball much of the time, laid upon the curved top of his trunk. His thin mattress pad that had served as his bed for as long as he could remember was quickly thrown out and they told him his trunk top would be a perfectly fine surface for him to sleep on. His constantly aching body disagreed.

The worst of it all were the increasing number of beatings, many of which were given because of fabricated events or for things that didn't deserve that treatment. Things like breathing too loud or giving Vernon a funny look when he'd not even looked in his direction were throw at him as valid excuses for physical punishments.

As Harry went to crawl out of his cupboard to get breakfast started, he moved a little too suddenly. Desperately keeping the gasp as quiet as he could, the pain reminded him of the previous night's thrashing.

* * *

His right leg had been badly broken the week before when Dudley had shoved him suddenly down the stairs. He'd heard his leg snap violently beneath him when he landed and he'd accidentally cried out at the mind numbing pain.

That was one of Uncle Vernon's main rules for him when in the house or around the family. No unnecessary noises at any time; to be seen and not heard. In fact, he was better off not being seen at all.

Apparently being shoved down 20 steps and having your leg violently snap in two beneath you wasn't in the list of times noises were appropriate. That had earned him a swift kick to his side, causing his already bruised ribs to creak.

While seeing stars, Vernon had grabbed him by the hair and roughly yanked him back to his feet, ordering to make dinner since he was running late.

Unable to stand, he fell back down gasping desperately through the pain. Vernon grabbed at him again and forced him back to his feet. Taking a quick moment to breathe through the pain, he managed to balance himself against the wall and slowly made his way into the kitchen.

Since then he's been understandably slow at finishing his chores. Vernon had not touched him since that night, but by the looks he'd been getting from the man, he knew things wouldn't remain that way for much longer.

Last evening, Vernon had returned back home from work with a nondescript bag in hand and sent him a nasty grin. Harry knew his time was up. His leg was now beyond useless, completely numb from mid thigh down. Had he been allowed out of the house for chores, he would had left and headed straight to the hospital, damn the Order's demands that he stay within the wards at all times. What was the point of the wards if they weren't protecting him.

The Dursley's had hired a gardener to do Harry's usual outdoor chores. The man was obviously not allowed in the house. Of course, Mr. Adams was allowed cold glasses of water and lemonade and small snacks "to keep his strength up."

Now though, he was too weak from the lack of food to do much of anything other than standing for short periods of times to cook meals.

When Vernon ordered him to Dudley's second bedroom last evening, he looked pleadingly at Aunt Petunia for help. The small hope faded immediately when she simply turned her nose up at him and told him to listen to his Uncle with a threat of no dinner for not obeying right away. He knew he wouldn't have gotten dinner either way.

"Come on, boy," his Uncle barked impatiently, nameless bag clutched in his sweaty hands.

Head down, Harry slowly and painfully made his way upstairs. He avoided Vernon's grabbing hands and Dudley's tripping feet best he could as he slowly and painfully made his way up the stairs. He supposed he should be thankful the cupboard was downstairs so he didn't have to go up and down the stairs every morning and night.

What followed was the worst beating he'd ever had to endure. He simply took it, knowing fighting back would only make things worse.

By the end, he'd had a few ribs broken, breathing becoming arduous and painful. His wrist had been snapped and hung there uselessly. Knives had been pulled from the bag, used to carve the words FREAK and MURDERER deeply into his back.

Already weak from starvation, his wounds were pounding with the beat of his racing heart and his body was warmed uncomfortably, a sure sign of the fever he'd felt creeping up on him the past several days.

Slowly making his way through breakfast, the miraculously finished by the time the others entered the kitchen.

"Food better be ready, boy," Vernon threatened. "There's no excuse for your recent laziness."

"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry replied submissively. He was slow to bring the food to the table. He saw Dudley's foot shoot out in his good foot's path but without the use of his right leg he was unable to avoid it. Food went flying, smearing across the table and in the laps of the seated family. The sounds of shattering glasses and plates fell into the background as Harry's eyes zeroed in on Vernon's face. He was dead.

Petunia shrieked and Vernon, who had already been turning purple because how long it'd taken Harry to bring the food, went a deep fuchsia. Dudley simply looked fervently between Harry's weak grounded form and his furious father, hoping for a good show.

Vernon stood threateningly over Harry's downed form. Harry's vision began to tunnel and the room tilted dangerously. All thoughts stopped and everything went black.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed! No worries about this being abandoned. All the chapters have already been written and I'm in the process of editing them for grammar and spelling. A new chapter will be posted ever second day!

Reviews are very welcome.

\- Afuunana


	2. Chapter 2

I couldn't help it. Here's the second chapter. haha

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

A month after Harry Potter's disappearance, the Order was holding a serious meeting in 12 Grimmauld place, headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix. The subject, as it had been the past month was Harry Potter.

Severus Snape stood in a shadowed corner of the room, arms crossed impatiently and a deep scowl on his face. He was tired of going to these meetings. Tired of hearing the same things being reported over and over again.

No one had seen the damned Boy-Who-Lived for nearly a month now. An unusual spike of magic in his family home had brought Order members to the muggle's front door. They'd been met by food splattered and furious muggles.

Severus just knew the spoiled brat had had a fit because they hadn't made his favourite meal for dinner or something equally ridiculous. They complained that Potter, in a fit of rage, had threatened to kill them, had thrown food at them, and had simply vanished. All searches since then had ended empty-handed.

Severus was in a worse mood than usual, angry he'd been unwillingly dragged into these daily searches. He'd spent too much of his limited free time searching Surrey and London at the usual teenage haunts. All he wanted was to spend his summer break from school doing absolutely nothing but brewing, reading, and relaxing. Of course Potter had to find some way to ruin that for him.

It was unusually hot out when the meeting finally finished. Severus apparated to Spinner's End in hopes to escape the heat and brew the Hospital Wings potions so he could finally get to his many experimental endeavours. Unfortunately, he was tasked to leaving in a few hours to continue the pointless search for the brat.

Approaching his property, he spied a few stray dogs snarling and pacing outside his front gate. Hating dogs with a passion, he send several vicious unobtrusive stinging hexes their way. They scattered towards the abandoned end of town, yelping with tails tucked between their legs.

Smirking, he continued on. Entering his gate, he spotted a dark pile of...something in the middle of his walkway in the blaring sun. Staring suspiciously at the lump, his eyes caught a small movement.

He approached it cautiously, wand still drawn and ready to defend himself. Only when he was a few feet away did he realize the pile was some sort of animal. A severely injured and painfully thin animal. A small triangular ear twitched in his direction as he took another step. The size of the animal and the shape of the ear had him realize that he was staring at a small black cat.

Its fur was a deep black, absorbing the sunlight but even so, still looking darker. Despite this, he could still see the wounds covering it, red and pink marks all over its coat. No part seemed to be spared from the damage. Even from where he was, he could count every rib and vertebrae. Hip bones and shoulder blades protruded out sharply through its damaged skin. Legs had no muscle or fat and even it's small face was sunken in. It was missing patches of fur, whether from illness and/or mange he wasn't sure.

Feeling pity on the animal, he removed his cloak and kneeled down next to the small body. He wrapped his cloak around the cat as gently as he could and only received a small twitch in response. He could feel the heat radiating through the robes indicating possible heat stroke. Even if it wasn't, he wasn't surprised the wretched thing had collapsed.

He pulled the cat closer to his body to support it better but his nose rejected the idea. Something about this cat stank to high heaven. It smelled of death. Examining it, he found the source of the smell.

It's right hind leg was only dangling there. The muscles were atrophied to nearly nothing, no muscle between skin and bone. The rest of its body looking nearly as thin.

The skin on the leg, broken and scratched from a fresh bite wound and who knows what else, was clearly necrotic. It was festering and flies constantly surrounded it. His first step to helping this creature recover would be to remove the largest source of infection, the leg. Animals were tough and he had no doubt should the cat survive, missing a leg would not stop it from acting like a regular cat.

He carefully carried the cat into his home, taking smooth, careful steps as to not jar his burden. The poor thing seemed to be too out of it with fever, heat, hunger, and pain to react to anything.

He brought it into his lab and set it gently on his desk. While he was confident the cat wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon, he cast precautionary wards on the desk to prevent the cat from leaving its top should it awaken and panic.

He stood there for a moment and made a mental list of problems and possible treatments.

Top of the list was that hind leg. He needed to get the creature's body stronger in order to for it to survive the procedure. He pulled out fast-acting strengthening potion and nutritive potions. While they worked their magic, he collected a numbing potion, a fever reducing potion, and a strong antibiotic potion and spelled them directly into the cat. He left several other potions to the side for after he was finished.

Casting a bubblehead charm to allow him to breathe without gagging on the rotting leg's odour, he took a few fortifying breaths and examined the leg under the light. It looked as if the rot had spread up most of the leg, stopping at the knee joint. He knew if he left too much of the leg that the cat would try to use it resulting in open sores and possible future infections. He decided to cut at mid thigh to dissuade it from using it to walk.

It took him nearly an hour of careful and precise cutting and sewing until he was finally finished. He banished the blood, thick from dehydration, and dressed it. He cast an impervious and impenetrable charm on the bindings to prevent the bandages from getting dirty or wet and to prevent the cat from chewing it off.

Figuring he should properly wash it now while it was unconscious, he carefully cradled the cat up to his bathroom. Waving his wand, he slightly filled the bathtub with room temperature water, just enough to dunk the small body underneath the water for rinsing. He began to to slowly wash off the filth, grime, and blood from the cat. The water quickly turned black and he refilled the tub with clean water to continue.

This repeated several times before the cat looked clean. He could now see that the cat was not completely black. It had a small streak of while on it's front right paw and a small white mark stretching down it's forehead. With it's wet fur and it's stumped leg, the poor thing looked worse off than before. He could now also see the sheer number of wounds and scars littering it's body.

He decided to towel dry it carefully, as drying charms left skin dry and itchy. He didn't want to add that on top of everything else it was suffering through.

As he gently towel dried the cat, he could feel ribs shifting under his fingers and saw that's it's front left paw was swollen. Apparently the hind leg wasn't the only damaged bone plaguing the cat.

When he returned to the lab and placed the now clean cat on the desk, he cast a thorough scanning charm on the limp body.

Some of the marks covering it's body were simple scratches. Others though, he'd seen the cats that had fallen in Bellatrix's hands enough times to determine that many wounds were caused by a knife. He had thought that perhaps the cat had found himself in fights with other animals and cars, but now he had serious doubts. Much of this was human-caused. He was now expecting a cat that feared a human hand.

Many teeth marks covered the cat's neck and legs, common targets by another cat or dog.

Fever ran rampant through the small body. He knew much of it was cause by infection and severe malnutrition. He figured this cat had not eaten a good meal in a very long time. A stray normally hunted it's own meals or foraged in alleyways in dumpsters. With a one completely useless leg and another broken, this cat's dexterity and agility would have prevented it from catching any easy prey. Also with its assumed negative history with humans, he doubted the cat would be hanging around anywhere humans densely populated.

He estimated it was only about 10 months old, no longer a kitten but not yet an adult. A cat that age should have been larger and at a weight of nearly 4.5Kgs or 10 pounds. His scan showed the cat only just barely weighed 2Kgs or under 5 pounds. A couple more days in the wild without food would have killed the poor thing.

He definitely had his work cut out for him. He needed to get weight on this scrawny creature. He knew this one, like many other desperately sick animals, felt too poorly and would simply refuse to eat. He swore he would do his best to bring this unlucky cat back to health. Maybe it would stick around and keep him company then.

Yawning, he fed the cat the remaining of the required potions and glanced at the clock. 10:00PM. Surprised how long he'd been there tending to the cat's wounds, he realized he'd never gone out to search for Potter.

Carrying the limp form to his bedroom, he placed the cat under a spare blanket on the second pillow on his bed. Arranging it comfortably, he rushed to his floo to give his excuses.

"I apologize, Albus," he started as soon as the call was answered. "Something came up and I was unable to to join the search this evening."

"That's alright, Severus," he said with a sigh. "This evening has also yielded no good news. I'm sure whatever it was was urgent."

"I came upon a dying feline on my return home," he explained.

Albus held out a calming hand, "An understandable distraction. I do hope the poor thing will be alright."

"As of right now, things are not looking well," he murmured with a frown. "I am not comfortable leaving the beast alone for any amount of time at the moment."

"Then it's condition is quite dire," the older man nodded. "I won't keep you then, Severus. Do take care of the poor thing and only join the searches when you feel you can without worry. We've got plenty others searching for Harry."

Severus nodded and ended the call. Checking on the still unconscious cat, he finished his night time routine and went to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Severus woke slowly, feeling well rested. Lazily, he opened his eyes to see a mass of black on the other pillow. Sitting up in remembrance, his eyes made contact with dull green eyes, wide in fear and pain. The small body was incredibly tense, wary eyes watching his every movement, flinching even when blinked.

Severus froze, not wanting to startle the cat further. He slowly left his bed, calm and unhurried movements as to seem as nonthreatening as possible. He was aware of the incessant stare of the cat as he went about his morning ablutions.

He had to feed the now conscious cat its morning potions, but wanted to move it to the warded desk first. He needed to do a second check for anything he may have missed in his scan the night before.

He cautiously approached the cat, hands in full view the entire time. The cat leaned away as he got closer and still its dull eyes stared unblinkingly.

He stopped next to it, seeing how fearful and tense the cat was, he was unsure how to correctly approach it. He didn't want it to panic if he were to grab it and possibly worsening its injuries. He also didn't want to deal with the scratches. The only other option that came to mind was the use of a body bind and levitation charm. He was sure that sort of treatment would frighten the cat more than it already was.

Eventually deciding he would risk the scratches, he leaned down to pick the cat up. What drove his decision was the idea of teaching the cat that his touches weren't something to fear. The way the cat was reacting so far told him that the cat was very fearful of human interaction. He doubted the poor thing had ever felt a gentle hand.

He slowly picked the creature up, doing his best to avoid putting any pressure on its numerous wounds and causing it further pain. Strangely, the cat didn't offer any sort of struggle but let out one heartrendingly weak mewl of fear. It leaned as far away from him as it could in its position. He brought it closer to rest against his chest, hoping maybe the rhythmic sound of his heartbeat would calm and comfort it somehow. So far, it didn't seem to be working.

He slowly brought his shaking and painfully tense burden downstairs. He stopped in the kitchen to grab a tin of tuna, with hopes he could get the cat to eat something.

Once in his lab, he carefully placed the cat on the desk and renewed the boundary wards from the previous day.

Despite its freedom, the cat didn't even try to escape. It didn't even try to stand at all. It seemed simply resigned to whatever it thought he would do to it.

Though it still shook violently and leaned away from his hands, it did nothing else to his prodding.

Nodding that he didn't miss anything, he began to gather his potions. When he reached for the amputated leg to inspect, the cat let out a deep sigh, laid its head down facing away from him, and closed its eyes. Severus knew this wasn't a sign of trust, but the cat giving up. It seemed to not care about anything anymore.

Sighing deeply himself, Severus knew this was not a good sign. When an animal gave up like this it was simply accepting its death. This was something he had been hoping to avoid happening. He didn't know what to do to bring the fight to live back. All he could do was to continue with his healing potions. If things didn't improve in the next week, he may have to brew the euthanasia potion to end its suffering, something he really didn't want to do.

Even though he hadn't seen a lick of personality, he was starting to become fond of the poorly creature.

The cat allowed him to handle its head and jaw with that same hopeless acceptance while he patiently fed it each potion.

He opened the tin of tuna, watching the cat for any sort of reaction to the scent of food. Nothing. Taking a bit onto his finger, he presented it under the cat's nose hoping to rile interest. The cat only sniffed it listlessness before moving it's head away again. This worried him since the weak body could not survive on supplement potions only. They were designed to not replace a complete meal, but just supplement required vitamins and minerals. He moved the fish back under the cat's nose once again but was completely ignored.

Sighing, he gave up. He picked the cat up again and it fell boneless in his arms. He softly petted it but got no reaction. Shaking his head sadly, he moved them to his sitting room. He arranged the throw blanket into a nest formation on the couch and placed the cat into it. He covered the cat with some of the extra throw. Casting a warming charm on it, he sat in his armchair. He quietly watched the cat fall into a soundless sleep.

He picked up his potion's journal and tried to read. He caught himself glancing over at the cat often. He wanted to help the poor creature completely recover and for it to become comfortable with his presence.

Four hours later, movement from the couch distracted him from his reading. The cat was moving strangely in its sleep. It seemed to be struggling against something before going completely stiff as if someone had petrified it.

Severus rushed to its side quickly, heart in his throat. The cat seemed to be having some sort of fit. Its head thrashed, slitted eyes rolled back in its head, and its limbs flailed as much as they could while still completely stiff.

Severus held it's head in place and gently stroked it down its heaving side.

"Come on, little one," he murmured pleadingly, "Fight, don't give up. Come on."

He continued the petting for nearly a minute before the cat's whole body went slack.

His hand stopped on its chest near its heart and was startled to feel the too fast heartbeat. With one last pat, he sprinted to his lab for another strengthening potion. Before he re-entered his sitting room, Severus hesitated. He didn't want to enter only to find he'd been too late. He'd become too attached, too quickly to this small forsaken soul.

Taking a deep breath, he crossed the room's threshold. At first he though he had been too slow. When he reached the couch, he could see the slow breaths the cat was taking. Relieved, he sat next to the struggling form and charmed the potion directly into the cat's stomach.

He rested his hand back over its heart and closed his eyes at the slow, weak beating beneath his fingers. Waiting with pounding heart and bated breath, he finally felt its breathing even out and become less laboured and its heart return to a more regular rhythm.

"Thank Merlin," Severus breathed out. "Don't do that again, little one."

Severus kept a very close eye on the cat for the rest of the day. The cat did not reawaken at all. Heading to bed later, he placed the cat back on the pillow next to him and prayed the cat would be alive the next morning.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

This routine continued for another five days. The cat's body seemed to be recovering slowly but its spirit remained broken. He didn't get another reaction out of it, not even when he gave it another bath. It remained limp when he held it and still had zero interest in any sort of food. Severus tried giving it an appetite stimulant but the cat simply fell asleep to ignore the hunger.

While Severus finished giving the cat its potions, the floo alerted him of an incoming call. He picked up the cat and went to answer the floo.

"Ah, is this the cat you spoke of, Severus?" Dumbledore greeted. "It is indeed in terrible shape," he spoke sadly.

"Good evening, Albus," Severus greeted. "Yes, this is the same cat. It's looking slightly better than it did when I first found it. It's not doing as well as I would have hoped it would be at this point."

"That's too bad," Dumbledore said softly. "Unfortunately, you are required at the Order meeting about to be held."

Severus looked down to the cat, hesitating in his agreement.

Pursing his lips, he said, "I am not yet comfortable leaving him alone nor can he travel by floo," he paused before agreeing reluctantly. "As long as I am not gone for long, I will come."

"Yes, of course, Severus," the older man agreed thankfully. "You will not be held there for long, I promise."

Nodding, Severus ended the call. Making sure the fire was strong, he bundled the cat back into his nest on the couch. Giving the cat one last worried glance, he headed to the meeting.

When Severus arrived, there were many people standing around with worried expressions. He figured the Brat-Who-Lived was still missing.

When Dumbledore arrive, everyone moved to the kitchen, sitting around the large table. Severus stayed to his shadows once again.

The meeting started off with discussions and theories about the brat's possible location. Finally he was called to speak.

"Any word from Voldemort, Severus? Is he still unaware Harry's been missing?" Dumbledore asked, bringing everyone else's attention on him.

Frowning, he shook his head, "No, he's been silent so far. He'd have his Death Eaters out hunting Potter if he was aware. If he actually _had_ the boy, everyone would know it as he wouldn't hesitate to brag about it."

"Indeed," Dumbledore nodded seriously. "I do hope you will let me know when he calls. That will be all, thank you Severus," dismissing him early as promised.

Severus turned to return to his cat when his mark began to burn. His hissing caught Dumbledore's attention who knew immediately what was happening.

"Go Severus," he ordered. "I will visit your home in 2 hours time."

Nodding with a grimace, he stepped outside and followed the summoning.

He was among the first to arrive. He bowed with the others while the stragglers arrived.

"Welcome, my friends," Voldemort hissed. "I find myself...disappointed."

He paused dramatically, glaring at each of the men and women present before him.

"It seems none of you deemed it important to inform me of Harry Potter's disappearance," he snarled softly. Some of the others present were surprised by the news while others were nervously silent.

Severus kept his expression carefully blank. Since he was the only one with unlimited access to the Order of the Phoenix, he knew he would be one of the main targets for punishment. He just hoped he would be able to go home whole enough to continue treating his cat.

"Severussss," Voldemort's attention shifted to focus on him. "Surely the Order was aware of this, and you by association."

"I was, my Lord," Severus informed blankly. "I was simply awaiting you call, my Lord," at this he bowed even deeper.

" _Crucio!_ " the spell hit him lightening fast. He was on the floor before the pain fully registered. "That is no excuse! You should have found a way to inform me immediately!"

When the curse ended, Severus painfully got back to his feet. He was ignored for the rest of the meeting while plans were made and people were assigned to search.

As they were dismissed, Voldemort called out to Severus.

"I will not tolerate further failure from you, Severus," he warned. "Let this remind you."

He launched a high level dark slashing curse, catching Severus in the side. He immediately felt his robes becoming soaked with his blood. Clutching his side, he bowed painfully, "I will not disappoint you again, my Lord."

He was finally allowed to leave and he made his way to the edge of the anti-apparation wards. He apparated into his sitting room, seeing Albus sitting next to the sleeping cat, carefully petting it. His sudden appearance caught Albus' attention. He stumbled and collapsed to the ground. His robes were becoming heavy with all the blood he'd already lost. His vision wavered and tunneled and he felt light-headed and cold.

"Severus!" Dumbledore called out quietly, trying to not wake the cat. He rushed to Severus' side to check what sort of damage had been done.

"It's nothing," Severus mumbled, his gaze stuck to the sleeping cat. "The Dark Lord is aware of Potter's disappearance. He's sent out several search parties to find the boy. Let the members know so they aren't caught unaware."

"You are not fine, Severus," he chided quietly. Casting a lightening charm on the younger man, he carried him to his bed, not caring about the blood staining his own robes.

"The cat," Severus mumbled insistently. "Is the cat alright?"

"He's fine at the moment. You however, are not," Dumbledore said softly. "Now stay put. I will treat your wounds first, then I will bring the cat to you."

"He needs his potions soon," Severus murmured weakly.

"He will have his potions soon, but you first," Dumbledore repeated patiently. "I will not have you bleed to death on my watch."

Dumbledore cast a healing charm and a clotting charm on his side before he left the room to gather potions. He could hear Severus mumbling about the small black cat as he left. He was charmed at how quickly Severus had become attached to the creature. If it pleased Severus, he would do his best to take care of his cat.

Once Severus had been given his potions and was no longer at risk of dying, Dumbledore went to take care of the small black cat.

The cat was awake and already staring at him as he entered the sitting room. It's dull green eyes watched him wearily as he approached. When he reached down to pick it up, the cat buried its head in the nest surrounding it.

Smiling softly, Albus gently picked up the cat and brought him to Severus.

Severus lazily glanced at him when he entered the bedroom, only barely awake. When he spotted the cat in Albus' arms, he reached out with both arm to be handed the cat. Dumbledore did so, throw and all, amused by Severus' childish reaction. It was reminiscent of a child wanting to be handed its teddy bear.

Severus gently rubbed the cat's head before succumbing to his need for healing sleep. The cat hesitantly looked up to the man's sleeping face before falling back asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

When Severus awoke, he became aware of a warm weight resting on his abdomen. He glanced down to see the cat, staring at him once again, little body tensed, still bundled in the throw from the couch.

"Good morning," he said softly. It was nice seeing the cat doing something, even if it was just staring, instead of just passively laying there. He slowly reached over to gently pet the cat. Its eyes followed the entire path of his hand. It was shaking slightly.

"I suppose I should name you," he pondered, rubbing the cat gently between the ears.

Thinking of names, he watched the cat watching him wearily. Slowly its eyes fell to half mast, reluctantly enjoying the petting. Smiling softly, Severus found the perfect name.

"Riju," he declared quietly. They cat's eyes opened back up, it's attention once again full on him. "It is a Hindu name meaning innocent and pure. I think it suits you well."

Riju returned to his half sleeping state after several more minutes of careful petting. Reluctant to ruin the moment, Severus knew he had to get up to get the both of them their potions. The painful stitching in his side agreed.

Carefully cradling his precious burden, he got up and made his way to the lab. Placing the cat on his desk, he swiftly left to finish his morning routine before fetching another tin of tuna from the kitchen. He desperately hoped the cat would begin eating today. While the nutrient potions had been doing their job sufficiently, the cat was beginning to lose weight it couldn't afford to lose. The strengthening potions were probably the only things preventing the cat's organs from slowly shutting down.

He returned to his lab, he saw the cat was more alert than he'd been in days. The cat allowed him to feed him its potions. He held out a small chunk of tuna, balanced in his index finger, holding his breath. The cat sniffed at it and looked up at him as if asking permission to eat. Nodding encouragingly, the cat warily licked his finger for a taste. Watching it hopefully, the cat finally took a gentle bite.

Severus withheld the childish urge to dance foolishly around the room. He let out an uncharacteristic beaming smile and offered the cat another bite. The cat looked at him again again for permission and when he received it, he ate the food. Severus noted the cat took care to not bite at his finger when retrieving the food. This routine continued until a little over half of the tin of tuna was left and the cat refused to take another bite.

"Not enough but a good start," he said softly, patting the now dozing cat.

He moved the both of them to the sitting room. He decided to forego his armchair and sit on the couch with the cat. He wanted Riju to become used to him being close.

He could see the cat watching him in his peripheral vision but simply read his journal. The cat slowly fell back asleep.

An hour later, his floo flared and Dumbledore stepped through. He seemed completely unsurprised to see Severus up and about despite his condition the previous night.

"Good morning, Severus," he greeted happily. "How are you feeling?"

"I am well," he responded, in an atypical chipper mood. "Riju finally ate something," he reported, sounding mildly like a proud parent.

"Riju, is it? A name of innocence," he said, nodding sagely. His arrival seemed to disturbed the cat's rest. It now sat quietly in its nest, watching the two men's interaction. "I am glad to hear he's begun to eat."

"Is there a reason you've interrupted my reading time, Albus?" Severus asked impatiently.

"Only to check on young Riju's condition," he chuckled, winking. "Now that I've seen he is doing well, I am feeling reassured."

Rolling his eyes, Severus knew Albus was really there to check on him more so than the cat. He decided to play ignorant in hopes he would leave faster.

"You've seen that he is well," he said, nodding his head once in the cat's direction.

"Indeed I have. I will leave the two of you to bond," he responded, taking in Severus' new seating.

Once the man had left, Severus set his journal on the side table and looked at the cat snuggled up on the next cushion.

"Well then, I supposed it's potion time again for the both of us," he said.

He stood and carried the cat to the lab. He wanted to eat in the kitchen, but he wanted to continue to feed Riju in a familiar setting. He didn't want to make him too nervous to continue eating by the sudden change of scenery when he had only just started.

Feeding Riju his potions, he patiently fed the still hesitant cat. He ate a little more than half of the tin this time before refusing more. This gave Severus hope that the little cat would only continue to improve.

After taking his own potions, he decided to work on some of the Hospital Wing's required potions. He quickly had those brews up and running and started to replenish some of the potions his home supply was starting to run low on. He was running out of some of Riju's daily potions. He soon settled into the familiar routine of brewing.

A little while later, a small movement to his left brought him back from his brew-induced trance. He glanced over to see Riju attempting to stand, but the blankets surrounding him prevented it. Severus slowly approached the cat, whose attention snapped to him as soon as he began his approach. He reached out and freed the cat from its warm and soft prison. He gave him a single pet on the head before returning to his potions. Half of his attention remained on Riju, who was showing the first bit of feline curiosity he's seen from him.

The cat looked around, observing all the strange things around it. He finally made a second attempt at standing. He succeeded for only a moment before his strength game out and he fell back down. He stood up stubbornly a moment later, legs shaking from the strain. Without paying any attention to his now missing leg, he slowly made his way around the desk on unsteady feet to sniff at all the new, strange things.

Severus absently noted that Riju never once turned his back to him and often glanced at him as if to make sure he was in the same place.

Severus decided to narrate his potion steps aloud in an attempt to get the timid cat used to hearing his voice. Despite using his softest, smoothest voice, the cat startled and froze. He simply stood there watching him warily, his explorations abandoned.

He slowly and calmly lectured the steps and ingredients, sending himself back into a zen state. When he was done the last step on the final potion, he glanced over at Riju, surprised to see that he'd come to the edge of the desk nearest to him and had fallen asleep.

This heartened him greatly. He silently vowed to read aloud whenever he could to his companion. He was encouraged by the small tentative trust the cat seemed to be showing toward him that day. He was not naive though, and was fully aware it would be a long time, if ever, before Riju felt completely comfortable in his presence. He vowed he would patiently wait for that day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

He was reluctant to wake Riju from his nap, but it had been several hours and they were due for their potions and a good feeding. If he was hungry then he knew his starved friend would be doubly so.

Fetching the leftover tuna from the fridge and some leftovers for himself, he cast a warming charm on both and returned to his lab. As a potions master he had a general rule of no eating where you brew. However, the past week, he had taken his meals at the desk in his lab where the cat normally rested.

After feeding Riju the tuna he tucked into his own meal. Riju slowly edged his way closer to his plate, sniffing the air. Once he was within arms reach, he became twitchy and flinched at each movement Severus made. Curious, Severus ignored him, waiting to see what he would do.

The cat slowly inched closer until he was close enough to directly sniff the food on Serverus' plate. He didn't actually touch the food though. Severus started to reach over to offer the cat a small piece of his chicken, but his movement startled Riju. He quickly backed up across the table, body tense and shaking.

Upset at the reaction, Severus placed the piece of chicken on the table halfway between the two of them and went back to his meal. It took a few minutes before the cat gathered enough courage to approach the offered food. Once close enough, he quickly grabbed the food and backed as far away from Severus as he could.

That night, Severus settled into bed with Riju.

"Good night, Riju," he mumbled, noxing the lights. As he was dozing off, a small mew sounded in the dark. Severus fell asleep with a smile on his face.

The next morning, Severus examined the stump. The cat's leg seemed to be fully healed. It only needed a single application of scar removal paste. Riju's patched fur was growing back well, the bald patches filling in slowly. With all the walking and exploring he'd been doing the past few days he was starting to regain his much needed lost muscles.

He'd begun feeding Riju high fat, high nutrients food and it was starting to show. He had gained a full pound, bringing him a little closer to a healthy weight. He figured another month or so, Riju would be at a relatively normal weight. The malnutrition would have permanently stunted his growth so he would always be smaller and lighter than other cats.

Infections and fever were no longer issues and it did wonders for Riju's energy levels. He was more active than he'd been only a few days before.

He still avoided Severus as much as he could though. The closest they got was at meals when Severus offered him something to eat from his plate. Other times, Riju was careful to remain at least 5 feet away from him at all times.

Unwilling to give up the comfort of the bed, Riju now refused to stay on the pillow and had now taken to sleeping at the bottom of the bed on the corner opposite where Severus slept.

He had moved back to his armchair, Riju refusing to stay put on the couch if he attempted to sit next to him.

This saddened Severus as he has gotten used to having the cat close when he was still immobile. He began to look forward to meals just to spend some time close to the cat.

He gently rubbed the scar paste into the incision area and watched as the scar faded bit by bit. Unfortunately, many of the scars covering the cat's body were too old for the paste to be effective. He reached over to pat Riju\s head, only for him to flinch away. Severus smiled sadly and backed away.

While Riju refused to interact with Severus, he had taken to following him around everywhere.

Severus groaned when his mark flared to life. Sighing, he sent his patronus to inform Albus that he had been summoned. He assumed this would just be a follow up of the previous meeting.

He swiftly retrieved his Death Eater robes and mask and turned to Riju as he donned them. The small cat seemed fearful of the change in clothing, no longer recognizing Severus.

"Be calm, Riju," he reassured softly. The cat's ears perked slightly at his voice. "I will never harm you. Now, I must be going. I will return as soon as I can. Behave."

He turned and left the house. Apparating to the meeting, he fell into place next to the other Death Eaters after kissing the Dark Lord's robes. Carefully emptying his mind, he waited.

"A spy has been revealed in our ranks," he told them calmly. Others looked around, trying to find the accused.

Feeling several hateful gazes on him, Severus desperately searched his mind for ways he might have been given away.

"Wormtail has informed me he overheard Order members in Diagon Alley, discussing their little spy," he paused. "I find myself disappointed in you once again, Severus," he finished, red gaze locking onto him.

Severus stayed silent. Voldemort continued, "You were one of my most treasured, so clever, so loyal. Now I learn that you've turned your back on me and betrayed our cause," he said, voice becoming more venomous.

Severs now knew he would not be leaving there alive. He would die as he had been expecting to ever since he had started spying. He braced himself, hoping to do a little damage before he was struck down.

The others had not yet stepped away from around him so he swiftly pulled out his wand and began firing into the group. Maybe if he took out a few of the more influential and dangerous ones, it would help in the war.

Casting several severing curses, he saw a couple go down, Bellatrix among them. He had hit her neck and hoped he could continue distracting the others long enough for her to die. He threw the killing curse into the crowd and saw a body fall. A flash of blond hair was seen. Lucius Malfoy, his mind supplied.

Suddenly he found himself bound and disarmed on the dirty stone floor.

"Enough!" he heard Voldemort thunder. Voldemort's pale feet entered his vision. "You dare?! You dare attack my followers, you traitor?!"

Severus spat at him. He was swiftly struck by a hate-filled _crucio_. His muscles tensed, unable to thrash while being bound. His head repeatedly hit the ground, his greying vision filling with stars and black spots. The mind numbing pain continued until he was sure he could physically feel his sanity leaving him.

Finally, he gave in. Just when he was about to fade away, the pain stopped. His throat hurt and he tasted blood and he knew he'd been screaming. He tried to remember why he would have been screaming. His muscled spasmed from ghost pain.

He became aware of someone speaking to him. He only caught the tail end of the sentence, "cat got your tongue, Severus?" the voice mocked.

Severus? What was that? Was that him? It sounded familiar.

Cat? What cat? Was there a cat?

Green eyes, wary and fearful filled his mind. Slowly those eyes blinked as the vision pulled back and revealed a painfully thin black body. Riju was the name his tired mind supplied.

" _Riju?_ " he thought slowly. It was like a light lit up in his mind as memories sprung back to into place. Now all he wanted to do was get home to his Riju.

A sharp pain in his right leg brought his thoughts back to the now. He let out a painful groan.

He had to get out of there immediately. Another _crucio_ would leave him in the same state as the Longbottom's. He called as much magic into himself as he could. He ignored the possibility of using this much magic while badly wounded exacerbating the damage or the high chance of splinching himself. He didn't even know if he had enough raw magic to break through the Dark Lord's anti-apparition wards.

He released all the raw magic just as Voldemort launched an _Avada Kedavra_ at him. Feeling the telltale signs of apparition, he pictured Riju and apparated to his sitting room.

He clearly startled Riju as he heard him take off running from the room. As he laid on the carpet, he attempted to take stock of all his injuries.

His limbs were twitching from the prolonged exposure to the _crutiatus_. His head was spinning slowly from slamming his head on the cold stone floor. His body felt weak and tired from the curse and the release of so much raw magic. He was sure he couldn't even cast a simple _lumos_.

Worst of all was his leg. The pain now crept up up his thigh, into his torso, and down his other leg. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened his eyes to see the damage. At first he only saw blood.

A painful laugh escaped him when he realized the source of the bleeding. They had severed his leg just below the knee right from his body. He and Riju now had something significant in common.

His laughs slowed to weak chuckles. Eventually he just laid there, eyes closed. He could feel the life slipping from him. His mind became slow and he felt himself drifting to sleep.

A cold nose on his cheek had him slowly forcing his heavy eyes open.

Riju was pacing back and forth in front or him. He was mewing in that same quiet, timid way of his, this time with a sense of urgency. It almost seemed that he was trying to keep Severus awake.

"Riju," he breathed. His eyes fell closed again and the mewing became louder, more insistent. He felt a small spiked tongue lap at the tip of his nose. His last though was he hoped someone came soon to take care of Riju when he was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Severus slowly drifted back to consciousness. He felt comfortable and there was a comfortable warmth tucked against his neck. He would have gone back to sleep if it wasn't for someone bathing his forehead gently. The warmth against his neck was tense and shaking.

Groaning, Severus slowly opened his eyes. Luckily the room he was in, only slightly familiar to his exhausted mind, was dim enough to not hurt his eyes.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Severus," a voice said gently. He recognized it as Madame Pomfrey.

He ignored her for a moment and looked to his left. The warmth against his neck turned out to be Riju, curled up against him. Onyx eyes connected to nervous green. He was apparently very uncomfortable by Pomfrey's presence, hence his tense shaking form.

He let a long breath out through his nose causing Riju's ears to twitch at the sudden warm gust of air. He returned his attention to Poppy, leaning his head more toward the cat's body. His cheek lay gently against the cat's trembling side. He slowly raised a hand and pet Riju gently, hoping to reassure him.

"What happened?" he asked, voice cracking from disuse.

"That's what I'd like to know," she frowned, hands resting on her hips. "I was suddenly summon here," she paused slightly seeing his questioning expression. "Headquarters," she supplied. "I was suddenly summon here only to find you moments from death. Albus had to put you in a deep stasis to even get you here safely."

She sent Riju a questioning look, "Apparently this little guy refused to be left behind. He's been stuck to you ever since you were brought here."

"Has anyone been giving him his potions?" he asked, worried any progress made could have come undone from the neglect of his potions.

"Albus has been visiting regularly to take care of his needs," she reassured. "You on the other hand had symptoms of prolonged exposure to the _crutiatus_ curse, a severed leg causing severe blood loss, and a nearly completely drained magical core," she listed, looking at him crossly. "You are lucky to be alive."

Before Severus could reply, the door opened to reveal a humming Dumbledore. He felt Riju press further into his neck, clearly unnerved by the number of people in the room. He hadn't seemed to warm up to Dumbledore despite his care while Severus was incapacitated.

Severus continued to stroke the nervous cat's side. He held back a smile when he felt the tense body relax marginally at the touch.

"Severus!" he beamed. "How nice to see you awake, my friend! We were all very worried about you," he gave the cat a warm look, "none more than Riju though."

"The Dark Lord has learned of my spying," he informed the headmaster promptly.

"What gave you away?" he asked, a worried frown on his aged face.

"Some idiot Order members decided it was a good idea to discuss my role in public," he scowled darkly. "Pettigrew was there to witness the conversation and rushed back to inform his master."

"Oh dear," Dumbledore frowned unhappily. "I'm so sorry, Severus. Did he mention who it was?"

Severus shook his head minutely.

"Well it looks like I'll need to improve the secrecy charm and have everyone retake it. Their indiscretion nearly cost us all dearly," he said seriously. There was no twinkle in his eyes.

"Unfortunately, until Harry is found I will not be able to update the vow of secrecy," he said regretfully.

"The brat still hasn't been found?" Severus scowled impatiently. Of course the boy would indirectly be the cause of his exposure, nearly causing his death.

"No and others have begun losing hope," he responded sadly. "I do hope he is well."

"What is the date?" Severus asked. Last he knew it had been early August.

"August 19th," Poppy put in impatiently. "You've been unconscious for 9 days. Your wounds were healed within the first few days. You fell into a deep healing sleep while your magical core regenerated."

"When can I return home?" he asked shortly, still petting Riju. He wanted the comfort of his own home and to get Riju back into a familiar environment.

"I swear, Severus," she huffed. "You are the worst patient I've ever had to deal with."

Severus merely stared at her. She let out an exasperated sigh and threw up her arms. He felt Riju tense sharply and continued to pet him until he calmed.

"Now that's you've woken up from your healing sleep, you should be fine to leave after dinner," she said, irritated.

"I will take my dinner in here," he stated. "Riju will not eat in front of others and he cannot afford to skip any meals." Albus had done his job well while he slept. He had begun to fill out, still underweight but looking slightly better than he had before.

"That will be fine," Albus interjected before Poppy could reject the idea. He transfigured a muggle crutch for Severus to use. He had the gall to make it pink. With a deadly glare, Severus changed it to black. Dumbledore merely chuckled and left the room humming.

Once him and his feline companion were fed and potioned, they were given the all clear to head home. He held his head high and ignored those in attendance's stares and gasps as he limped to the fireplace using his new crutch. Holding Riju in his cloak, they flooed back to Spinner's End.

He left Riju on the couch and slowly limped toward his lab to brew a few potions. He noticed he was not being shadowed like usual and looked back to see Riju had left the couch and sat at the spot Severus had laid dying. He simply sat there, staring at the ground where he had lost consciousness.

Despite the situation, Severus was encouraged to see the cat's reaction to seeing him injured and his insistent closeness while he recovered. He saw it as a good sign that the cat was beginning to see him as a provider and friend instead of an enemy. He left the cat there to do whatever it wanted.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

It was two hours later when Severus was finished brewing and headed back to his sitting room. Upon entering the room, he froze to the spot.

There before him, sat in the same spot as Riju had been, was a dazed looking Harry Potter. His clothing was a mess, stained with dirt and what looked to be blood. His hair the same unruly mess as ever. He sat there staring blankly at the very spot Severus had been laying 9 days earlier.

Rage consumed Severus. Seeing red, he charged forward as best he could with only one leg and roughly grabbed Potters arm in a bruising grip. The brat's head snapped up to him and he stared into familiar dull green eyes, filled with startled fear and betrayal.

"Potter," he roared, spittle hitting Potter's face. He shook the boy roughly, "You think this is a game?! Everyone, light and dark, have been searching for you everywhere and you have the nerve to show up here with this dumb look on your face?!"

The boy began to shake violently, looking increasingly frightened.

"You better be afraid, boy," he spoke lowly, right in the boy's face. "Just you wait until I'm done with you."

Large round pupils became slit, and his body shrank. He soon had a very familiar form held in his roughly hand. Riju...no, Potter stared at him, having the nerve to look betrayed. Severus had the boy by the scruff of his neck.

If he had been thinking clearly, Severus would have thrown the cat, with a simple explanatory note, into the floo en route to Headquarters.

Betrayal, and humiliation that yet another Potter had duped him, swam through his body and he stormed to his front door. He roughly tossed the cat out his front gate. The cat landed in a heap, frozen, and only stared up at him with wide eyes. Severus glared and bit out, "Get out of my sight."

He turned abruptly and slammed the door. Falling back against it, he covered his face with his hands. He had been played. All this time, his _companion_ had been Potter, pretending. He glanced out his front window, taking care to stay in the shadows, and saw Potter still standing out there, looking incredibly lost.

He hobbled back to his lab to grab a potion for his growing headache. Deciding he needed a distraction, he began to brew.

It worked for a total of two and a half hours. An alarm he had set to remind himself to give Riju his potions brought him back to the present. His mind drifted back to the boy.

Something about the boy's mannerisms earlier bothered Severus. It was like he was not all there. The boy had been examining his hands like he was surprised to see them there. Almost like he he hadn't known that was what he was supposed to be seeing.

And his expression toward Severus. Potter had looked at him exactly like Riju had. There was no Potter in it. No arrogance, no spoiled whining. He had simply stared at him like he didn't understand what was happening.

A growing pressure began to form in Severus' stomach. Was it possible Potter truly thought he was a cat? Did he not remember that he was Potter and he was his nasty potions professor?

Severus spun quickly, balancing himself with the help of his desk. Grabbing his crutch, he made his way to the front door and threw it open. Looking into the darkness, his stomach dropped. There was no cat sitting at the front gate. He had left.

He needed to find the boy. Who knew what would happen to him out there. Images of the cat's original condition flashed through Severus' mind.

Mind made up, he began his search. It was only ten minutes later that he realized that searching in the darkness would be impossible. He headed back home, thoughts stuck on the small underfed cat. If Potter truly wasn't in there, any and all trust he'd been carefully forming with Riju was now shattered no thanks to his earlier fit of rage. That thought surprisingly hurt more than the knowledge that said cat was really his most hated student in disguise.

He did not sleep well that night, horrible scenarios haunting his dreams. He desperately hoped he would find Potter safe and whole the next day.

Severus woke with the sun, feeling deeply unrested. He didn't bother with breakfast and quickly filled his potion satchel with anything he thought, but desperately hoped were unnecessary, might be need.

He left and began his search with a point me spell. He used Harry Potter with no results. Riju came up with no results as well. Sighing, he started to begin a manual search.

He came across an older lady from a street over and approached her.

"Pardon me," he called her attention. "Have you seen a small black cat this morning?"

She thought for a moment before nodding, "Yes, I saw the poor thing about an hour ago wandering down that way," she pointed toward the more forested end of town. "Poor dear seemed to be wandering around in a daze. Is it yours?"

He nodded impatiently, "I found him about a month ago in a much worse state. I've been bringing him back to health since. He escaped last night," he lied. "Thank you for your information."

He became to hobble away but the woman called after him, "I'd be careful in that end of town, dear. There's a pack of feral dogs living around there. A couple of the neighbour's cats have gone missing."

Nodding thankfully at the news, Severus rushed off. He was now very worried, knowing how much trouble Potter normally got himself into.

It wasn't long before he could hear the sounds of dogs fighting in the distance. Speeding up, he eventually found them in the back lot of an abandoned store.

There were a half a dozen dogs all barking and snarling at a single dog. The single dog was stood in an incredibly defensive stance, under it was a mass of black fur. Apparently it was trying to protect his meal from the others.

Stomach in his throat, the sight of the cat laying still under the snarling dog looking dead had Severus' heart clenching painfully.

The dog was chased away by another charging dog, teeth bared. The other's gave chase. Another dog took the moment of distraction to claim its prize. It picked up the limp form by the neck and started toward the forest. Another dog quickly grabbed the other end of the cat and the two began a tug-of-war.

This kick-started Severus into action. He sent out a flurry of hexes and curses, anything he could think of to get those teeth away from the cat. The dogs dropped Potter quickly and ran off into the bushes, tails between their legs. The rest of the cowardly pack ran off at the danger except one. The large mutt charged at him, teeth bared, drool dripping down its chops.

" _Sectumsempra_ ," Severus snarled, whipping his wand violently at the dog, not taking his eyes off the still form of Potter. Deep slashes formed, incapacitating the dog. He ignored the yelps and cries of the dying dog in favour of getting to the cat.

As he approached, he was afraid of what he would find. He could hardly remember that this was Potter, all he could see was his Riju laying there in a pool of his own blood.

The poor thing was positively torn up, chunks of fur and flesh hanging loosely, centered mostly around his neck and face. Bite marks were covering his entire body. His fur was saturated with his own blood, the pool under him steadily growing larger.

He sat down and reached out hesitantly. He placed his hand gently on the cat's wounded side. Holding his breath, he finally felt him take a small stuttered breath. Vision spinning from lack of oxygen, Severus finally allowed himself to take a deep breath.

Carefully gathering the broken body to his chest, he took several fortifying breaths. Pulling out his potion satchel, he began to gather the needed potions. He had to calm himself several times when he nearly dropped a vial from his violently shaking hand.

The pried open the small jaw and carefully poured a blood replenishing potion into the cat's mouth. It only dribbled back out, none making its way into Potter's system.

"No, no, no," he chanted. He could feel the tiny heart beneath his palm slowing, weakening. "Don't do this," he begged, eyes stinging.

He repeated the action, but cast a swallowing charm. The potion finally went down. He repeated this several times until the last potion disappeared.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The cat continued to lay lifelessly in his arms. He needed to get the both of them home. He cradled his burden closely, unwilling to be separated again. He slowly made his way home, eyes stuck to the cat, willing it to continue breathing.

Severus' heart continued to hurt, the guilt eating away at him. While he didn't like Potter, there was no excuse for what he did. If he hadn't thrown the cat out when he found out he was really Potter, this never would have happened. He cursed his quick temper as he looked at the broken body.

He knew he would have to inform Albus that he had found his precious Golden Boy, but he found himself torn. He knew as long as he told the old headmaster, his beloved cat would be gone for good. Potter's memory would be restored and he wouldn't want anything to do with Severus anymore. Thoughts of life without the timid cat's presence seemed unbearable after all this time. He would terribly miss the small company the cat had offered him.

He quickly entered his home, cat still held close. He went straight to his lab and gently placed Potter on his lab desk. The cat's body was completely boneless and limp. It was an incredibly unsettling sight.

Severus inspected the numerous wounds, cringing. Some of the wounds were slowly healing from the earlier potions but many remained open and oozing. He fed an anti-bacterial potion to the cat to prevent any illnesses and diseases the wild dogs may have passed on. He did a quick scan for anything that may have been transferred, like rabies, but the results came up clean.

"You have horrible luck, Mr. Potter," he murmured. The cat remained unconscious. He began to cast healing spells and watched as the skin was given a head start in its healing. He dressed the wounds and picked up the cat.

He laid down on his sofa with Potter nestled on his chest. He began to pet the soft fur and was soon lulled into a fitful sleep. Dreams plagued his tired mind. The worst one was of Riju being successfully torn in two by the two dogs.

A sudden light push on his chest woke him abruptly. He looked over quickly enough to see the tip of a black tail disappear underneath his bookshelf. While the cat had always been wary of him, he had never fled and hid from him. Severus' heart dropped once again, mourning the loss of trust that had begun to form between the two.

Sighing deeply, he stood up to get some food. He hoped the smell of food would be enough to lure the cat out, but knew it wasn't likely to happen. Placing a plate full of food on the ground near the bookshelf, he returned to the couch to eat his own meal. The cat never ventured out.

Placing preserving charms on the plate, Severus went to his lab to brew for a few hours, hoping the cat would feel safe enough to eat when he wasn't present. He made sure to make several loud noises in his lab so the cat knew he wasn't nearby.

When he returned to the sitting room, he was disheartened to see the plate of food untouched.

Not wanting to make it worse but knowing he needed to give the cat its potions, he knelt down to look under the bookshelf. All he could see in the darkness was two glowing green eyes at half mast and quick uneven breaths in the silence.

"Sorry," he said softly. He reached under to pull the frightened cat out. He heard some shuffling and saw the cat pushing himself as far into the corner, away from his reaching hand, as he could. Never once did he growl or hiss.

He eventually pulled the shaking, gasping body out and held it close to his chest. Instead of using him as a leaning post like he'd taken to doing lately, the small form leaned as far away from him as it could manage. He fed him his potions and attempted to feed him once last time. The cat simply avoided his finger desperately.

Renewing the preservation charm on the food, he placed him back on the wooden floor. The cat streaked away from him and back underneath the bookshelf. All he could hear in the night air was the heavy, stressed panting coming from Potter.

Sighing once again, Severus left the room and headed to bed.

Something woke Severus in the middle of the night. Unsure what had disturbed his sleep, the paused and simply listened. A faint sound was heard from the sitting room. Suddenly he was no longer asleep. There was no reason why Potter would be awake at this hour.

Remembering the wheezing pants he had heard from underneath the bookshelf as he headed to bed, a sudden uneasy feeling overcame him.

The cat had been up and moving too soon after these injuries, given just a few hours before bed. A passage from a book he'd read recently suddenly made sense. Like humans, animals would hide how bad their condition was if they felt the need to not show weakness in front of a perceived threat. His throat dropped into his stomach at the thought of Riju considering him threat enough to hid his condition.

Jumping up suddenly, Severus felt an urgent need to check up on the cat. He made his way as quickly as he could to the sitting room.

The sound he'd heard when he first woke up turned out to be quiet inconsistent gasps for breath. Hair standing on end and cold chills running up and down his spine, he flicked on one of the room's lamps and quickly crouched to looked underneath the bookshelf.

Potter was laying limply on his side, thin ribs slowly rising and falling with each gasped breath. His green eyes lay tiredly on Severus' face. His dulling eyes begged for something, some form of help he thought he wouldn't receive.

His eyes slowly closed and the already weak breathing became weaker, more time in between each quiet gasp.

Having enough, Severus finally pulled the cat from under the shelf and into the light.

His coat was duller than earlier and his body seemed to be colder. Severus reached over and pulled the throw from the couch, covering the struggling body and casting a strong warming charm.

Petting the furred head desperately, Severus begged the cat to hold on, to not give up. He apologized over and over for his horrible reaction before.

"Please don't do this Riju...Potter...whoever you are," he pleaded, tears dripping into the flat fur.

Still, the breathing became more shallow and more sparse.

Chocking on a sob, Severus whispered, "I need you still..."

Seconds later, the small body heaved one last sigh and fell completely still. Severus curled himself around Potter, crying harder than he ever had before.

"Please," he whispered brokenly. "I promise to take care of you for the rest of my life. Anyone...please. Just don't take him away..."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

He lay there sobbing for what felt like hours. He was sure he was quite the sight, a full grown man laying on the ground curled around the body of a small dead cat sobbing his heart out.

When he felt he'd run out of tears, he just lay there in the silence. He kept his eyes tightly close, afraid to look at the body and accept the truth. His hand continued to gently pet Potter. He pulled the body closer to his chest, wanting to keep him close.

He continued to lay there blankly. A small sound, difficult to heart even in the complete silence, caused him to slowly come out of his near-catatonic state. He listened for a moment but only hear the wind in the trees outside. He was slowly returning to his unresponsive state when he heard the sound again.

He glanced down at the cat's body. He looked the same. Dead. Because he took his anger out on a hurting child.

As he blankly stared at the small body, he thought he saw it twitch. Tossing the blanket off of the cat, his attention was now completely focused on Potter. His eyes desperately scanned every part of the cat. He held his breath.

There! An ear twitched slightly and sent his heart thumping madly. He rubbed the little body more vigorously, hoping to promote and encourage anything positive happening inside the small body to continue.

Letting out several desperately relieved breaths, he continued to scan the cat for more signs of life. He began to smile wildly when the small chest expanded weakly as a breath was finally taken.

Severus felt more tears form but pushed them back. Potter may have been somehow miraculously revived but that could very well be a temporary thing of Severus did nothing.

He carefully picked up Potter, treating him as if he were made of fine China. He absently noted that the plate of food on the floor still remained untouched. Making his way to his lab, he cradled his burden close and became gathering potions.

Potter's breathing was slowly improving but was still terribly weak. Severus set out to improve that before anything else. It took him over three hours of fighting, and two more scares before he was satisfied Potter was out of danger.

After everything, Severus was completely and utterly exhausted. His mind didn't want to sleep in case Potter's condition suddenly worsened, but his body called out for sleep, still recovering from his own brush with death. He settled for keeping Potter close by for the night.

He laid the cat carefully on the next pillow before covering it with the throw from the couch. Renewing the heating charm, he settled himself in a position where he could watch Potter carefully. It took him a long time before he dozed off into a restless sleep. The smallest noises woke him and each time he glanced at Potter, making sure he was still alive and breathing.

When Severus woke for the final time, his clock read 2pm. He never slept in past 9am. A movement to his left caught his attention. Potter was still sat on the pillow, now awake and alert and staring directly into Severus' eyes. There was something different about those eyes though, an awareness that hadn't been there before.

Tentatively, Severus said, "Potter?" He received a solemn nod.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose. So this was how it ended. Soon Potter would be desperate to leave and his Riju would be no more.

A noise brought him out of his maudlin though and back to Potter. The weak body was slowly crawling toward him, like he was afraid of being rejected and yelled at. When Severus showed no reaction, Potter curled himself into Severus' neck. The slow rumble of purring, something that he'd never heard Riju do, echoed through his head. Despite knowing that this...this whatever this was would end soon, he simply basked in the cat's closeness. The rhythmic purring relaxed him in a way that he hadn't felt in weeks.

"I will contact the Headmaster after breakfast," Severus told him emotionlessly. "He will figure out what will be done with you until the new semester starts."

Potter stopped purring and moved impossibly closer, burying his face against Severus' neck. A small meow sounded in his ear. It sounded regretful.

Severus laid there for another few minutes before getting up. Potter stared at him from his spot before lowering his head. He stood up shakily and prepared himself to jump down off the bed. Severus turned and headed toward the bathroom.

A thump behind him brought him back to his bedroom. Potter seemed to be having trouble standing, having fallen down off the bed, still weak from his 'death' the night before.

He made his way back to Potter. Potter avoided eye contact, seemingly embarrassed by how weak he was. He didn't bother trying to stand up again, knowing it was useless.

Severus leaned down and picked Potter up without comment. If he didn't hold Potter as close as he did with Riju, neither made notice.

Severus figured he should begin to create some distance between himself and Potter so it wouldn't be as painful when he lost his quiet companionship later.

He tossed the plate of food from the previous night and made the two of them a hearty meal. He noticed Potter wasn't eating much of anything, just laying prone on the desk and staring blankly at his plate.

"Eat, Potter," Severus commanded softly. "You need your strength."

Potter nodded and began to pick listlessly at his food. Severus cleared his throat.

"Am I correct in saying until this morning, you had no recollection of who you were?" he questioned, putting his fork down. These questions could be asked later, but Severus was trying to delay Potter's unavoidable reveal to the Order.

Sighing, Potter nodded. He stood unsteadily and slowly made his way over to Severus' plate. He bowed deeply.

Taking the bow as an apology, he waved the cat off. He noted the slight flinch Potter gave at the waving hand. Frowning, he vowed to bring up this reaction when he was able to have an actual conversation with a human Potter.

Deciding it was time to go, he set the dishes to wash themselves in the sink and carried Potter over to the floo.

Onyx and green met for a few moments. Severus could already feel himself missing Riju's presence. Potter simply seemed resigned to whatever would happen to him.

"12 Grimmauld Place," he called, hiding Potter in his robes to protect his already weakened lungs from inhaling the ash. Both were swept away.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Severus quickly noted who was present in Headquarters. Not seeing Albus, he turned back to the floo and called the headmaster's office in Hogwarts.

The old man was sitting at his desk, sucking happily on one of those damned muggle sweets. His gaze moved to the floo, smiling widely once he saw Severus there.

"Severus!" he beamed. "What can I do for you?"

"You are required immediately at Headquarters, _privately_ ," he informed. "I have news on Potter."

Dumbledore's eyes sharpened at the mention of Potter. He stood and came quickly over to the floo.

"Have you found him?" he asked desperately. "Is he well? Where is he? Where has he been?"

Severus interrupted the rush of questions, "I need to speak to you in private before you announce anything."

Leaving the floo, he saw the others present staring at him and the small cat questioningly. He stared back blankly, moving the cat out of view further under his robes.

Dumbledore came through the floo, and with a calm nod to the others, led Severus to a private room. He quickly warded the room against potential eavesdroppers. He looked at Severus expectantly.

Taking a fortifying breath, he removed the despondent cat from his robes and placed him on a chair nearby. Potter curled into himself.

"Hello, Riju," Dumbledore greeted fondly.

"Potter," Severus corrected shortly. Dumbledore looked at him for a moment before understanding lit up his blue eyes. He gaze snapped to the black cat.

"Harry?" he asked hopefully. He only received a small nod in response. The absurdity of the situation sent him into a fit of laughter. Severus frowned, not seeing any humour in the situation. Potter had nearly died several times since he had come to Severus, actually died last night for what had felt like hours. Potter seemed to agree as he curled himself into a tight ball, hiding his face.

As his laughter died down to chuckled, he saw the unimpressed look on Severus' face.

"Come now, Severus. You must see the irony of it all," he reasoned with a final chuckle.

"This is no laughing matter, Albus," he snapped.

Dumbledore raised his hands in surrender. His attention returned to Potter.

"Now Harry, let us get you back on your own two feet," he paused and gave Potter and Severus an apologetic grimace, "I apologize for my unintended insensitive remark."

The cat merely nodded cheerlessly. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and cast the animagus reversal spell. The two men watched as the small form grew until Riju was replaced with a ragged, skinny looking Potter. Taking note of his missing leg, Dumbledore transfigured a crutch similar to Severus' and handed it to the boy.

Dumbledore greeted him happily with sparkling eyes, "It's good to see you, Harry."

Potter stayed silent, nodding and sending Severus unsure glances. Severus stayed silent as well, avoiding eye contact. Potter sighed a full body sigh and faced Dumbledore.

"Can you tell me what happened to you, Harry?" Dumbledore questioned, looking encouragingly at Potter.

"I was..." he started, his voice coming out in a broken whisper from disuse. He cleared his throat and began again.

"I was at my relatives when everything suddenly went black," he started. Dumbledore seemed to be eating up the words ,always eager for a mystery, but Severus could tell that Potter had left quite a few important things out.

' _Come on old man, use that Legilimency you're so fond of,_ ' Severus thought bitterly. Severus wanted to do exactly that but it felt wrong to use it after their terrible Occlumency lessons last semester. He figured that though Harry hadn't learned anything productive, he would be able to sense when Severus' now familiar mind was invading his own. He didn't want to break whatever trust was left between them so Severus let Potter continue on without comment.

"The next thing I knew I was alone in the woods," he explained. "I had no idea who I was. I was just some cat apparently. I began to wander around looking for food, but my leg got trapped in something," he said gesturing at his missing leg. "My first instinct was to panic and ended up badly damaging my right leg."

"Sounds like a case of powerful accidental magic," Dumbledore ruminated. "Was there anything you can think of that would have caused this episode?"

Harry merely shook his head in the negative.

Severus noticed Potter's hands were in constant motion, fidgeting relentlessly in his lap. His eyes, while refusing any and all eye contact, were darting about the room indicating a lie. Severus knew he needed to speak to Potter alone. He was surprised and disappointed that the apparently not-so-omniscient Albus Dumbledore was accepting the words as the absolute truth.

Potter continued on. Severus was curious as to how he had come to the terrible state he'd been found in.

"From then on I had a terrible time getting any food. I was too slow to hunt and because of some of the neighbourhood kids, I was afraid of being near humans," he said softly, tears forming in his dull green eyes. His fidgeting hands stopped for a few moments to rest on his flat stomach in remembrance of the terrible hunger. Severus remembered the skeletal form clearly.

"After that, I just wandered from place to place for I don't know how long," Potter said absently wiping the tears that had escaped with shaking hands. "I was so so hungry all the time and I could feel my body getting weaker. I slept a lot to escape the pain in my stomach," he frowned. "I often found myself in other animals' territories and was attacked several times. Not only was I starving," his fist clenched on his stomach, "but I was covered in bites and scratches and my leg was getting badly infected."

"I must have found my way into Professor Snape's hometown at some point," he mumbled. "By that time, I couldn't feel my leg anymore and everything was too hot. I guess I hadn't eaten anything in nearly a week and I could hardly stand. I found myself face-to-face with a bunch of stray dogs. I was able to gather as much energy as I could and ran. They were faster than me and caught me a couple times. I was able to escape one last time and entered the gate of a nearby house," here he glanced quickly at Severus. "I couldn't make myself move anymore though and gave up. Next thing I knew, I was staring at Professor Snape, no idea I already knew him from before," he finished.

"The wards surrounding my house prevents anyone or anything with ill-intent from passing through the gate surrounding the property," Severus informed him.

"Lucky I chose the right property to collapse in," he gave Severus a weak half-hearted grin.

"Lucky indeed," Severus agreed with a small nod.

Dumbledore put a hand on Potter's shoulder, not noticing the flinch the action caused.

"If it were earlier in the summer, I would take you back to your relatives so you'd be within the protection of the blood wards," Severus observed Potter's minute cringe at the prospect. Another thing to add to the list of things to talk to Potter about when they were alone. "As it is, school will begin shortly. I would have you stay here at headquarters but somehow after last semester I doubt you'd be comfortable here."

As if a light flicked on in his head, memories of his godfather's death came back to him all at once. Severus watched as an expression of immense guilt crossed Potters features. The expression had something in Severus, something he'd only felt with Riju, itching to comfort the boy. He arms twitched in an aborted attempt to reach out for Potter. He held them back.

The twitch caught Dumbledore's attention and mischievous twinkle entered his eyes.

"Since you've already been taken care of by Severus for so long," he said with a sly smile, "we might as well place you with him until the new school year."

He looked to Severus for his usual complaints but Severus found he didn't mind much at all. He simply nodded his agreement. Potter glanced at him nervously. While Potter had always seemed nervous around him, he hoped Riju's new fear of him hadn't been carried over to Potter. The idea of the boy being afraid of him rubbed him the wrong way. Just the same way as he felt at the thought of Riju fearing him.

Dumbledore clapped loudly, causing another flinch from Potter. Severus wanted to get them back home to treat Potter's wounds and to sit him down for a serious talk.

"If we are finished here?" Severus asked expectantly.

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore said. "I will call a full Order meeting and keep everyone in the kitchen while the two of you leave. I will inform the others that Harry has been found and moved to a safe place."

Potter shot the headmaster a quick thankful look. Severus nodded his thanks as well.

"Give me twenty minutes to gather the meeting, then you may sneak out," he explained as he exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Silence rang between the two males for several minutes. Severus turned to completely face Potter. He was unhappy to see him leaning away from him like Riju used to.

"Normally I would apparate home, however with your injuries and your weakened condition," flashes of the cat's dead body ran through his mind causing his throat to catch. Clearing his throat, he continued, "instead we will use the floo as it should be easier on you. As soon as we arrive home, I will give you your potions, starting with a pain potion."

If Potter noticed him accidentally referring to his house as their home, he didn't show it. He simply nodded submissively.

Severus, in an uncharacteristic act of kindness, reached over and gently patted Potter on the head. The boy started at the gesture but Severus kept his hand there for several moments longer. He took his experience with Riju and decided to slowly get Potter used to kind human contact again.

Twenty minutes later they heard the kitchen door shut downstairs and they knew it was time to leave. They made their way quietly to the fireplace in the large sitting room, Severus guiding Potter with a gentle hand on his back, ready to catch him should he fall.

As Severus reached for the floo powder the floo flared and Nymphadora Tonks stumbled out. Once she regained her balance her eyes fell on Potter. She let out a shriek and pull the boy into a tight embrace.

Potter's eyes widened in pain and his mouth hung open in a silent pained gasp. He locked eyes with Severus and he quickly took action.

He pulled her off Potter and pulled the boy to his chest in a one-armed hug. Tonks stared at the odd pair.

"For Merlin's sake, Tonks," Severus snapped. He could feel Potter shaking against his chest. A small pained whimper reached his ears. "Must you grab the boy?"

Sudden movement from the kitchen caught their attention. Frowning, Severus reached over and grabbed a handful of floo powder.

"Wait, Snape!" she said quickly, grabbing for Potter once again. "We have to tell the others Harry's been found!"

"Albus already knows and was about to inform the Order in the meeting you arrived late to," he scowled, pushing her grabby hands away. He released Potter for a moment only to hid him in his robes. Sounds were coming their way so he impatiently informed the nosy auror, "Potter is currently my charge, deemed so by Albus himself. So if you excuse us, we will be returning home."

He threw the powder into the fire and clearly stated his destination. Feeling Potter's arms hesitantly wrap around his waist, he enveloped him in a full hug and stepped into the fire.

When the two exited the floo in Spinner's End, Severus felt Potter try to pull away. He pulled him closer for a moment before releasing him completely. Potter's face was flushed in embarrassment.

"Come," he said softly. "Let us get something for that pain you're in."

The boy followed him quietly as he led the way to the lab. He sat Potter at the desk as he collected the needed potions. When he turned back to the boy, he was gently running his fingers over the surface of the desk, a small smile on his face. Severus gave the sight a small secret smile of his own, remembering the time spent with Riju on that very surface.

"Here," he said, placing the pain potion before the boy. He drank them one by one, making disgusted faces at the particularly foul ones. "Despite my experimenting with flavouring, I've yet to find anything to improve the taste of potions without effecting the potency of the potion."

"At least you've tried, sir," he said shyly, yawning.

"You may call me Severus when we are alone," he offered. "You should get some rest. I can only do you good."

Potter paused, unsure of where he'd be placed for the night. Severus quickly caught onto his hesitance.

"You may use my bed," he offered. "After dinner, I will set up the guest room next to my bedroom for you to use. Tomorrow we can go to your relatives home to gather your trunk and anything you may wish to bring back with you."

Potter stiffened at the mention of returning to his relatives, renewing Severus' need to have a conversation with him about the lies detected in his tale to Dumbledore.

"After we return, we will need to have a serious conversation," he told the boy. Potter quickly glanced at him, judging whether the talk would be a positive or negative thing.

The two grabbed their canes and slowly made their way to Severus' bedroom. Having more experience in walking with the crutch, Severus had to help Potter balance several times. Apparently it was much harder to walk now than it had been when he was a cat. It was a slow progress but they eventually made it.

Severus scanned the boy's ragged clothing. Pursing his lips, he vowed to get him a new wardrobe if his other clothing was deemed equally unacceptable.

Severus strode to his dresser and pulled out a pair of his night clothes for Potter to use. When the boy had changed he shrunk the clothes to fit him better. Potter left to brush his teeth and use the toilet, Severus pulled back the bed sheets and cast a warming charm.

He tucked in a hesitant Potter and ran a hand through the messy hair. Potter, instead of pulling away as he'd done before, leaned slightly into the touch. He snuggled deeper into the sheets and curled up on his side like a cat. Within moments his breath evened out and he was fast asleep.

Severus stood watching, deep in thought. Potter was not at all like he was at Hogwarts. There was absolutely nothing arrogant or spoiled about this boy. What he saw instead was an untrusting, unsure, afraid boy who didn't like to be touched. For some reason, once he'd pulled him away from Tonks and held him close, the boy seemed to be slowly warming up to him again.

Had the boy always been this way and he had been too blinded by the image of his father too see? He thought back to his colleagues' comments about a polite, shy boy eager to please. He had never paid enough attention to notice if the boy had always shied away from touch.

The desperate words he'd choked out when the cat had stopped breathing, something that still haunted him, came back to him.

" _I promise to take care of you for the rest of my remaining life,_ " he had promised. Now looking at Potter's damaged body and soul sent him into serious thought. He had been very protective to Riju and those feeling had only been transferred to Potter.

Harry, he decided. He wanted to start anew, starting with calling the boy by his given name.

If his home with the muggles turned out to be as bad as his gut was telling him, he would be the first in line to take Harry in. He'd already become accustomed to his presence as Riju, he had a feeling he would now enjoy the boy's presence as well.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Severus left Harry to his nap after he cast a monitoring charm to alert him of anything happening. He made his way to the kitchen to start cooking dinner.

It took him just over an hour for him to finish and plate the food. After yesterday's scare, Severus was hesitant to leave Harry on his own for any longer than an hour. He was quickly becoming quite paternal toward the boy. Who knew, a Snape feeling fatherly feelings towards a Potter.

As he left the kitchen to go wake Harry, his monitoring charm alerted him that Harry was in some sort of distress.

Rushing to his bedroom, he arrived to find Harry whimpering as he curled into a ball, arms up to protect his head from some unseen attacker.

"Harry," Severus called quietly, shaking the thin shoulder slightly. "Come now. You're just dreaming. Wake up," he said louder when there was no reaction other than more whimpering and a tighter ball.

Feeling useless, Severus did the only hing he felt he could do at the moment. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he gathered the shaking body close to himself. The slight form stiffened and began to struggle desperately. Severus kept the boy close despite his thrashing.

A moment later he was holding onto a struggling, scratching cat. Harry wormed his way out of Severus' arms and still asleep, fell to the ground with a thud. He finally seemed to wake up. He sat there looking around himself to look for any lasting danger. His eyes eventually fell on Severus.

With wide eyes, he took in the scratched arms and hands. He seemed to think he was in serious trouble and took off to hide.

Only slightly disgruntled, Severus set off in search of Harry.

"Harry?" he called out, keeping his voice as nonthreatening as he could. Seeing the great Harry Potter, the young wizard who had faced Voldemort more than once, run from anything in self-preservation was perplexing. He remembered Albus telling him back in Harry's first year that he'd nearly been sorted in Severus' own house. He'd laughed at the idea of a Potter in Slytherin but now he could see it was entirely possible.

He went to Riju's previous hiding spot, hoping to find him there. He didn't think he'd be able to look at the bookshelf the same again since it had nearly become Harry's final resting place the night before.

"Harry!" he called again. No response came so he ducked and looked under the shelf. No cat. "Harry, I'm not angry. I was just trying to wake you. The scratches are easily mended. Come on out."

A shuffling sound brought his attention in the couch's direction. Weary green eyes stared out at him from beneath the couch.

"Come now, Harry," he coaxed softly. He received a small shake of the head in return. Now Severus was mildly bewildered. How could he calm Harry's worries?

Ha sat down near the couch, avoiding the spot where he'd sat the night before. He pulled up his sleeves and retrieved his wand. With slow deliberate movements, he cast low level healing charms that turned the light scratches into near-invisible scars. Holding his wand loosely, he rested his arms face upwards on his thighs. He stared at the ugly tattoo marring his left forearm in disgust. With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes to avoid looking at the stain marking his soul.

A cold nose touching his left wrist startled him. He moved his arm away slightly.

"You don't want to touch that, Harry," he chided softly. Harry ignored his words and settled himself into Severus' lap, head resting on his upper left forearm. He was hesitant in believing that Harry didn't mind that he had the mark. He raised his other hand and gently pet the boy-turned-cat, both taking comfort in each other.

Severus let Harry remain as a cat for the night. Harry spent to night next to Severus instead of going to the room Severus had set up earlier.

The next morning he returned Harry to his human form and they shared a completely silent breakfast. Soon after it was time to head over to the Dursley's. Severus wanted answers and Potter seemed unspeakably nervous. He wouldn't sit still for a single moment and refused to talk.

Severus had him take his potions and they got ready to leave.

"We'll just go, get your things, and leave," Severus explained, trying to reassure Harry and calm him down. Harry just absently nodded, wringing his hands.

They finally apparated to Surrey and Severus looked at the cookie cutter houses in disgust.

As they approached number 4 Privet Drive, Harry seemed to walk closer to him, falling slightly behind. The gut feeling that told him something was wrong here was back.

Wanting to get this over with as soon as he could for Harry's sake, he reached and knocked on the door. He took a small step closer to Harry in hopes he could somehow comfort him.

He could hear heavy footsteps approaching from inside the house. Harry abandoned any distance between them and pressed himself against Severus' side. Severus wrapped his arm around the boy and gave his opposite arm a gentle squeeze.

The door was thrown open to reveal a scowling moustached man. He shot Severus a glare when he saw his robes and cloak. He opened his mouth to say something, no doubt nasty about him when he finally caught sight of Harry.

"You," he growled lowly. "Come crawling back have you? Realized no one else wanted you no doubt."

"Yes, sir," Harry's head lowered in complete submissiveness toward this man. Severus scowled darkly and stepped between the two, blocking the man's hateful glare from Harry.

"Mr. Potter is very much wanted by many people," Severus spat. The man snorted nastily. Standing at his full height, Severus returned, "We've come to retrieve his school things. It would be much more efficient if you were to step aside and allow us to enter."

The muggle huffed loudly and stood aside. As the two of them passed, the man's obese hands shot out and roughly gripped Harry's arm.

"No funny business, boy," he threatened. Severus was very agitated with how tight the man's grip was on Harry and immediately drew his wand.

"Unhand the boy, muggle," he warned with a growl, wand in plain sight. The muggle released Harry but continued his hate-filled glare.

Severus drew Harry closer and moved them to the sitting room.

The other two Dursley's were sitting around the room. The youngest, just as obese as his father, was sat in front of the television, ignoring everything around him and stuffing his face with crisps.

The mother, who he immediately recognized as Petunia Evans from his youth, was sat there primly glaring at the pair of them. She seemed to recognize him as well.

Seeing at how well fed the two male Dursley's were set his blood on fire. Harry, who had always been too thin, too small was the complete opposite of these two mountains.

Petunia was thin, but he could tell it was in some attempt at a diet she'd no doubt read about in one of her gossip magazines. Time had not been kind to her. Still just as horse-faced, long-necked, and sour faced as she was as a young girl. She had more wrinkles than Severus, despite his life of constant stress. He was sure her problems were trivial compared to his own on the easiest of days.

"You," she spat nastily. Apparently time had only worsened her horrible personality as well. "How dare you show up here?"

"Yes, me," he said in a flat, droll voice. Harry pulling on his sleeve distracted him. Wanting to get out of this family's toxic presence, he told the boy, "Go and gather you things, Harry."

"I will not have that brat wandering my house alone! Who knows what kind of nasty things he'll do on his own!" Petunia immediately protested. Harry hesitate but Severus merely gave him a small encouraging push.

"They will remain here while you collect your belongings," Severus reassured. Seeing the muggles reactions and attitude toward Harry was slowly confirming things his gut had previously been warning him of.

While Harry uneasily scampered off, Severus stayed behind to make sure the muggles stayed put.

"You're taking the brat?" Petunia asked shortly. She was staring after Harry suspiciously.

"For now, yes," he answered, glaring heatedly at the woman.

"You can keep him," she said snottily. "We never wanted him. Tried dropping the brat off at the first orphanage we came across only to find him back on our doorstep when we got back home. That nasty old man no doubt."

Severus seethed at the cruel words. No child who had just lost his parent deserved to be so heartlessly abandoned like that. Petunia simply continued, ignoring Severus' anger.

"Now that the useless thing is some disgusting amputee," here she shot Severus' missing leg a disgusted look, "he is completely useless here. He'll just be another mouth to feed with no way of earning it."

"A child should not have to earn the right to eat!" he thundered. His disgust at this family was growing to dangerous levels.

"We never asked for him!" Vernon roared. "He's been nothing but a burden on our good family!"

"Mummy, I gotta pee," the youngest Dursley whined loudly. The sound of it set Severus' teeth to grinding. This brat was what he had pictured Harry to be.

"Not now, you little brat," Severus snapped. The boy was about to throw a fit, when he was interrupted.

"How dare you speak to my son that way," Vernon snarled. He stood in some sort of pathetic attempt at intimidating Severus who was completely unimpressed. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed giving the man a bored stare.

"Go ahead, Diddy," Petunia simpered. The brat had the nerve to shoot a victorious grin at Severus as he waddled passed him. He clenched his fists as the boy headed upstairs before turning back to his repulsive parents.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Severus turned back to the glaring adults.

"Sit down, Dursley," he snapped out impatiently. "Your juvenile attempts at intimidation are not working."

While his pathetic attempt didn't work on Severus, he could see how it would be intimidating to Harry. The man was nearly four times the size of the small teen, outweighing him by leaps and bounds. He outclassed Harry in every area that mattered.

He waved his wand at the enraged muggle and sent him back onto his fat behind. He cast sticking charms on the two of them and silenced them. Petunia's glare turned a shade nastier and Vernon was an unhealthy purple.

Turning his thoughts inward on the observations he'd seen so far in this house. If these people were this nasty and and brutally honest about their thoughts with him, a virtual stranger, he could only imagine how it was behind closed doors. He understood now why Harry was so timid and unsure of himself. Any and all self-esteem and self-confidence would have been stomped out of him. His own cruel treatment of the boy at Hogwarts the last five years had definitely not helped. That thought hurt his thawing heart.

One thing he was still unsure about was if their abuse extended in to the realm of the physical. Harry's body had too many old scars for a boy his age.

Having enough, he made a snap decision and decided to use Legilimency to find out the answers to his many questions. He knew asking would get them no where. He started with Petunia.

" _Legilimens,_ " he cast viciously, not caring if he hurt her. He scanned her memories for anything that had to do with Harry. What he was was enough to make his stomach turn.

Not a kind word had ever been spoken to Harry. Nothing but hate and lies had been directed at him. She deliberately treated him so he would feel unwanted and unloved. She constantly told him how he was lucky they allowed him to live in their home. How no one else would ever want or love him.

Hitting and shoving were also common occurrences. She had hit him with a frying pan several times, purposely aiming for his head.

She was the main perpetrator in Harry's severe malnutrition and starvation. Sometimes she simply refused to feed him. Taking away meals, which were only scraps from their own plates, was her favourite way of punishing him. Despite all this, Harry was forced to cook the family meals and was stationed in a corner to watch them as they ate.

She made sure to blame everything bad that happened, even if completely unrelated to Harry in every way, on the boy. She lied and told him his parents' death was because of him. Because Harry had been told all this since he was so young, he could do nothing else but believe it.

She was Harry's main reason he rushed into danger to help other, absolutely no regard for his own life. He truly believed that no one would be bothered if he were to perish. He wasn't suicidal, he just didn't care.

Seeing enough, he pulled out roughly. With no words, he left her to her silent moaning, clutching at her head, and turned to her husband.

" _Legilimens,_ " he spat, anger fueling the spell.

If Petunia's vile mind had turned his stomach, Vernon's chilled him to his core. There was absolutely nothing positive in the man's mind. Every memory featuring Harry was filled with an intense desire to do the child harm. Too many of his memories featured him physically harming Harry. Severus refused to watch those memories.

He skipped to the man's more recent memories and had to physically hold back the need to throw up. The man, while he wanted Harry out of his life, was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to use the boy in a new way. Fantasies no adults should have about a child blinked passed Severus' eyes and he immediately pulled out, not caring if he left the man mindless.

Severus turned, unable to look at the pair in front of him. He summoned his patronus and commanded it, "Tell Albus his presence is immediately required at number 4 Privet Drive. It is urgent." The doe nodded and cantered off.

A startled yell and loud thump, followed by an abrupt, "Severus!" brought his attention upstairs. He quickly noticed with a curse that the youngest Dursley had still not returned from his bathroom trip.

A bad feeling rushing through him, he quickly headed upstairs. He headed to the closest open door where the sounds of a struggle was heard.

The younger Dursley was straddling Harry, arms trapped at his sides. He was pounding his fists viciously into Harry's unprotected face. Tears soaked his face.

" _Stupefy!_ " he cast, rushing into the room. The roughly pulled the stunned boy off Harry, anxiously taking in Harry's face. He seemed to be nearly unconscious.

Gently taking the sides of Harry's head in his hands, he scanned his face desperately, trying to find what sort of damage had been done.

His nose was clearly broken, crooked and blood rushing down his face. His cheek was swollen and bloody, another possible broken bone. His clouded eyes were red and were already starting to swell.

He carefully wiped away tears, avoiding all damage. His actions seemed to bring Harry a little closer to consciousness as his eyes seemed to focus slightly on Severus.

"Severus," he mumbled. Severus pulled him into his lap and hugged the boy close.

"Oh my Harry," he said sadly. "I'm so sorry. So so sorry. You keep getting hurt in my care."

Harry shook his head in protest.

"I told myself that this would be a quick trip and that I wouldn't let you leave my sight. I failed," he said, stomach lurching at his continuous failures. "You'll never have to return here, I promise."

"I'm sorry," Harry murmured, apologizing even if he'd done absolutely nothing wrong.

"No apologizing," Severus told him, resting his cheek on the top of Harry's head. "You've done nothing wrong. I'm so sorry I left you alone," he pulled Harry closer to him.

Despite his damaged face, Harry turned his face into Severus' chest and pushed it against his robes. He started to choke out sobs. His shaking arms came up around Severus and returned the hug, desperately clutching at the back of Severus' robes.

"Severus?" a worried voice came from the doorway. The two startled. Dumbledore founding himself looking down the end of a very protective Severus Snape's wand. He slowly raised his hands in a sign of peace and spoke softly, "It's just me."

Severus lowered his wand and returned to holding Harry as close as possible. "Downstairs. Use legilimency on the two adults. Look for memories concerning Harry. That's all I have to say."

"And this one?" he gestured to Dudley's unconscious form.

"Get him out of here before I am tempted to do something that will have me in Azkaban," he said darkly. "Found him beating Harry unprovoked when he was unable to defend himself."

He put a warm hand on the back of Harry's head. He began to ran his fingers through the messy hair. Feeling a large bump forming, he avoided it as it was surely hurting Harry. His other hand rubbed small circles into Harry's back.

"Oh my child," he whispered softly. He calmly hushed Harry until the sobs started to slow. "I will have Albus procure adoption papers immediately. I would be very pleased if you were to come live with me for good."

Sniffling, Harry shifted so his uninjured cheek rested on Severus' chest right above his heart. The rhythmic beats helped calm him. "Why would you want me?" he asked gloomily.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with you," he reassured, continuing to rub circles into the boy's back. "I would be honoured to call you my son."

"And I would never have to come back here?" he asked worriedly.

"Never," Severus reassured seriously. "Even if others fight against this, I personally will never allow you to set foot in this horrible place again. With Albus on our side, no one will think about taking you away."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"We are leaving this place," Dumbledore said as he re-entered the room, more angry than Severus had ever seen him. "I cannot stand to be within 100 miles of these _people_ ," he spat the last word out, Severus knew full well that he wanted to call something else no suitable for Harry's ears.

When he saw the state Harry was in, his eyes softened and filled with tears.

"Oh my boy," he said sadly. "I'm so sorry for leaving you here alone all these years. Will you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?"

"You can start by going to the Ministry and drawing up some permanent adoption papers," Severus ordered briskly.

"You would really be willing to adopt Harry, Severus?" he asked unsurprised. He could see how close the two had become.

"I will accept no one else as his guardian," Severus said with a note of finality.

"And you, Harry? You are happy with this arrangement?" Dumbledore asked. He wanted to make sure this was something the both of them wanted,

Harry's arms tightened around Severus and he nodded shyly, "Only Severus," he confirmed quietly.

"Very well," he nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I will return to your home this evening with the papers, Severus."

Severus tried to pull away after Dumbledore has left, but Harry whimpered and refused to let him go.

"Harry," he started softly, "I need you to let me go so I can gather your things. I think we both want to get out of here as soon as possible," he reasoned. Harry stubbornly shook his head.

Sighing, Severus tried to figure out what to do. He wanted to get home to treat Harry's newest injuries. He realized it would be easier if he could carry Harry around with him.

"Become Riju," he commanded softly. "Become Riju so I can bring you with me easily."

He soon found himself cradling the small black cat to his chest. He took a few moments to simply pet him before the cat jumped from his arms and scratched at a loose floorboard. Once he knew Severus knew what he was hinting at, he jumped back into Severus' arms when he leaned down.

Severus found several small items beneath the floorboard. Gathering them, as they seemed to be important to Harry, he continued on through the house.

With Harry's help, they had everything gathered and shrunk in Severus' pocket within ten minutes. Severus was thankful the standard student trunks were equipped with anti-flammable wards as it seemed the muggles had attempted to burn everything.

Holding Riju close, he apparated away from the hellhole back to their home.

"I want you to transform back into Harry so I can treat all your wounds," Severus explained.

Severus kept close to Harry for the rest of that day. Too many bad things had happened to him when he left Severus' sight the past couple months. Harry had no complaints, sticking equally close to Severus.

When Dumbledore arrived later that evening, Severus was sat on the couch reading a potions journal with a purring Riju on his lap. Smiling, he knew he was doing he right things. Both of them need the other in their lives.

"Good evening, Albus," Severus greeted expectantly. "I'm assuming you had no issues retrieving the adoption papers?"

"Ah, always right to the point, my boy," Dumbledore chuckled happily. "Yes, of course. All that's needed is some more information and both of your signatures. I will serve as your witness."

Severus just stared at him in that unnerving way of his, while Riju was looking a little tense.

"I would also ask that this adoption remained a secret until a time it is safe to reveal," Dumbledore requested. "Will you be able to keep this from your friends, Harry?"

The cat nodded solemnly. If he was able to live with Severus as a family, he had no issue keeping it from a few important people.

With a final pat, Severus lifted Riju and placed on the cushion next to him.. He stood to take the papers from Dumbledore. While he red them over, Harry transformed back and sat quietly next to him. Head down, his hands were wringing nervously in his lap. Severus reached over unconsciously and patted Harry on the knee to offer him some comfort, not taking his eyes from the papers.

It was several minutes before he was finished. Glancing briefly at Dumbledore, he turned to Harry and took his hands in his own.

"Harry, signing these papers give me full financial control over you," Severus explained. "I would be in all senses your parent. It would be my responsibility to support you financially, emotionally, physically, and psychologically. Are you sure you are alright with this? You can always choose to stay with the Weasley's if you would prefer them."

Saying this hurt Severus, afraid Harry would choose them over himself, but he felt the need to leave the option out in the open.

Harry was having nothing of it though, his head shaking forcefully before Severus even finished that sentence. Tears were starting to fill his eyes.

"N-No!" he said shakily. "Y-You said you w-wanted me!" Tears started falling down his face.

"I do, Harry, I do," he reassured hastily. He reached over and gently wiped the tears away. "More than anything I've ever wanted. I just want you to be absolutely sure that this is what you want."

"It is, it is!" he cried. He launched himself at Severus, burying his face in his robes and crying in earnest.

"Then it will be do," Severus promised. He used one arm to hug Harry close while the other reached to the side table for his quill.

"Will you remain as Harry Potter?" Severus asked seriously. "The option to take my own name is here."

"Can I have both names?" Harry asked shyly.

"You may, but as Albus said, we must keep this adoption secret. Until we are free from the threat of the Dark Lord, you must remain as Harry Potter," he explained. "Harry Potter-Snape, it is."

Harry beamed. He looked eagerly at the papers as Severus entered the information and signed the bottom. Harry was virtually vibrating as he waited to signed it himself.

"I have a trusted person who is currently at the Ministry, ready to collect the contract and file it personally. It will be placed where anyone looking to do bad won't find it," he explained. "I already took the liberty of gathering the Dursley's signatures. They made the process much smoother by willingly passing his guardianship over."

"That is fine. I'd rather the two of us be left alone by the masses until it is safe to announce it," he said gratefully. He passed the quill over to Harry and set the contract down on the coffee table. "Once you sign this, it will be official."

Nodding, with shaking fingers he put the quill to the thick official parchment. He quickly signed in the correct spots.

The contract began to glow softly. The glow spread over to Harry and Severus, connecting the two of them. The light slowly sunk into their skin. They two stared at each other during the entire process. Neither noticed when the contract disappeared with a pop. Dumbledore left quietly to make sure the contract was safe and to leave the two of them to absorb what had just been done.

Severus reached over and pulled Harry into a bear hug.

"Harry James Potter-Snape," he said affectionately. It had happened. Something he had been wanting since he had brought Harry back into his home after learning the truth about Riju. Harry was now officially his son. His robes were soaked with the happy tears Harry was shedding. "My son," he whispered.

Harry nodded happily into his chest.


	16. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Dad!" a very familiar voice yelled desperately from behind him. Snapping his head around, Severus Snape eyes widened as he took in what was happening.

It had been 2 years since he had officially adopted Harry Potter-Snape. Harry had made great progress in his issues. He no longer avoided physical contact, being especially affectionate with Severus. His self-confidence and happiness had grown in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, Severus had never been able to cure his need to protect those he considered important to him no matter the consequences for himself.

He could see a streak of green light heading straight for him, knowing he couldn't dodge or defend himself in time. He could also see the now healthy body of a smaller than average black cat jump in the way of it.

Flashes of the time he had cried over the cat's still body after saving him from a pack of feral dogs overcame his mind.

"No!" he screamed. The green light collided violently with Riju, sending him rag-dolling past Severus' head to land behind him with a small thump. Black eyes collided with victorious red through the crowd of fighting Death Eaters, students, and staff.

His mind went blank as he flew into a rage. Dumbledore stood at his back, defending him from outside attacks as Severus faced Voldemort himself. He wanted to do nothing more than to finish this all and go to his son.

"" _Dad_ ," he says," Voldemort mocked, letting out a cold, high laugh. "What shall you do now, my traitor? The world's great saviour has given himself up for you. You will not win. Your son is gone."

Severus launched a lightning quick attack, putting Voldemort on the defensive. He used everything in his vast lexicon of spells, light and dark. He concentrated only on destroying the evil being in front of him. Others around them slowed in their own battles to observe.

"You will never win!" Severus roared. "Not as long as I am alive! If it's the last thing I do, I will defeat you for Harry!"

His wand glowed brightly, the magic gathering from around him to power it. Hogwarts mourned those lost within her walls that day and gave Severus full access to her ancient magic. The sheer amount of magic began to burn up his wand. He didn't think of a spell, only of his Harry, his son. The light left the wand, shattering it and burning Severus' hands and sending him flying backwards. His vision went black.

The light collided with Voldemort's body, shattering through his protection spells and began to eat away at him. Bit by bit, his dark soul was eaten away by the light until nothing was left. Hogwarts wanted every bit of this foul being gone from her walls and set the snake-like body alight. When there was nothing left but ashes, a strong wind flew through the Great Hall and the ashes were carried away into the night. Where once stood the Dark Lord Voldemort was nothing. The staff and students turned to the shocked Death Eaters and began to stun and bound them. Not one escaped.

While Aurors began to take away the Dark Lord's followers, Severus groaned and slowly blinked his eyes open. He turned his head to the left then the right. There laying next to him was a small black cat. Tears filled his eyes while he stared at it.

"Harry," he cried brokenly. He closed his eyes tightly and mourned the loss of his son, chest heaving with sobs. He didn't bother to move from his spot in the rubble.

"Severus," Dumbledore said worriedly. He was stepping over broken stone and climbing over benches in his attempt to get to Severus. "Severus, are you alright?"

"No," he choked. "No, Albus I'm not. Harry's gone," he explained, heart broken.

Turning his head back toward his son, his eyes met dazed green ones. The eyes blinked slowly as the cat tried to regain its bearings.

"H-Harry?" Severus stuttered desperately. He painfully turned on his side to get closer. He got a weak meow in response. Harry continued to blink his eyes and shake his head until his vision cleared. He tried to stand but fell back over. With another shake of the head, he crawled over to Severus. "Harry," Severus repeated, reaching for the cat with shaking hands.

"Thank goodness the two of you are alright," Dumbledore gasped out, sitting heavily on a boulder nearby. He took several breaths before continuing, "I am getting too old for all this. My old bones can't keep up as well as they used to."

"Thank Merlin you're alive," Severus whispered to Harry. "How? How are you alive? I saw you get hit with the killing curse."

Transforming back, Harry moved into Severus' arms.

"Hogwarts," he explained . "She wanted to send me back to you, to thank you for saving her and all her students."

Taking a deep breath, Severus suddenly glared at Harry.

"What have I told you about putting yourself in danger like that, young man?" he demanded sternly. The image was slightly ruined since he was laying on his back among rubble, utterly drained. That and Harry wasn't intimidated by him any longer.

"But dad," Harry whined.

Dumbledore smiled at the scene. This was how things were meant to be. Voldemort was gone and all Death Eaters present were apprehended. These two were now free to live however they wanted openly as father and son. Things could not be better.

 **The End**

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Thank you everyone for reading! I had a lot of fun writing this. It was nice to get back into writing again and getting my old brain working again.

Don't forget to review! I look forward to seeing you in my future stories.


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